Only I Am A Reader



'She is definitely the most normal of them all.'

Compared to the surprisingly trustworthy Ken and the gullible Clara, Miyu was the only one who didn't disappoint. If he was in her place, Leo might not have changed much of what she did.

The other two thought they were smart because they succeeded in tricking Aurora, but if it was anyone else who wasn't blinded by her ability, their cover would have been blown long ago. The same couldn't be said about Miyu.

Regardless of her nasty personality, she used logic and wits to make everything impeccable. Considering how little she knew about Leo and his overwhelming Enigma, direct confrontation was more of a death wish.

Even if she still had to fight it out on her own in the end, Miyu wanted to at least have a general understanding of her opponent. A feint followed by a swift escape was the answer that she came up with after considering dozens of solutions.

'She might have been worth sparing.'

It was just a pity that her opponent was none other than Leo. Regardless of how powerful he currently was, he read about similar situations a dozen times. Logical solutions were the worst option to deal with him.

Had this been a normal scenario where a random Villain was attacking the true Heroes for fun, She might have survived. However, she was the Villain in this scenario.

'What was it called… Yeah, if she wasn't poisonous milk.'

In the end, she was just a troll. Miyu might have been dormant now, but once the truly troublesome 'companions' joined the team, she was an amplification factor that made things much worse for Aurora.

While Leo was taking out the others primarily to make a cautionary tale out of it, Miyu was like a tumor that needed urgent removal.

Even if it meant giving up on targeting the rest of the team, Leo would have ultimately chosen to go after Miyu.

Thankfully, with this clutch meeting, Leo managed to avoid the worst-case scenario where he had to deal with her in Aurora's presence.

"There is nothing much you can do, so stay put."

Since Alice was practically powerless against his Shadows' grasp, Leo had no plans of dealing with her first.

Just like he would pick Miyu if he had to choose who was the worst member of the team, Alice could be considered the… Least harmful.

Of course, that wasn't a glowing title considering the nature of the team, but Leo at least planned to spare her from the bone alterations.

'I will still take it away.'

Since she misused her ability to scam the mentally impaired protagonist, Leo couldn't make an exception on that.

Regardless, he still had to deal with Miyu first. While her choices might be predictable for Leo, giving her time could end up complicating the situation.

The 77th challenge might have been already cleared, but Leo had a challenge of his own. Hunting the Sword Spirit Wielder!

'Let's see where you are hiding.'

As versatile as Leo's ability was, it still couldn't compare to a Peak ability focused on that aspect.

However, just like he had been scanning one challenge after the other with absolute ease, one element made him surpass normal expectations. Abundance of shadows!

This stage originally contained a hunting challenge that didn't require killing all monsters, but Miyu had already killed everything that could move.

To make things better, they were scattered around the stage. Although they had no pulse, they still had a shadow.

Most importantly…

'You are the only one that's moving.'

With Leo's antennas spread everywhere around the sole moving signal, hiding was the first advantage that Miyu ended up losing.

The convoluted design of the stage might have given her the illusion that she could escape detection if she timed her movements well, but it was all a lost cause.

"Hello there."

After taking a second to observe Miyu sticking into the wall with her eyes constantly on the move, Leo rose out of the ground with a smile on his face.

There were a few novels that strayed from the norm, but most of the time, Leo had to share a protagonist's anxiousness as they escaped the chase of something or someone that was far beyond their power. Now…

'It's a fresh perspective.'

It was nice not to be on the receiving end every once in a while!

Shing!

Miyu's reaction speed was still top-tier as she turned and performed one more quick-draw slash, but Leo just slipped back into his shadow before rising back next to her.

Just this quick exchange was enough to show that Miyu's attacks posed no threat against Leo. The poor girl's options were quickly dwindling into nothingness.

Swish!

"Arghh…"

Miyu desperately swung her sword once more, but her hands were quickly restrained by the Shadow tendrils rising from Leo's Shadow. Unlike the first ones that she saw, these couldn't be cut by her attacks even if they managed to land.

"W-why are you doing this?"

While there was still an unwilling glint in Miyu's eyes, her muscles had already relaxed. The Sword Spirit screamed at her to keep fighting back, but now she knew she could never win this battle regardless of the approach.

"Who knows? Maybe I'm just a Villain who enjoys hunting righteous Heroes?"

That being said, Miyu didn't completely give up. If the sword wouldn't do, then she had to give her tongue another chance.

"Righteous Heroes? Don't make me laugh, you of all people should have realized what we really are. Or do you want to test us some more?"

'Not bad.'

Miyu was surprisingly observant enough to see through Leo's intentions. It was just that Leo couldn't understand how such a sharp person had that kind of twisted personality.

She would have surely done well even if she didn't resort to scamming the protagonist.

Spatt.

"Hmmmm. What about now? Any guesses?"

Snapping his fingers, Leo disabled Shadow Copy, revealing his original face. It was always amusing to see the contrasting reactions that came with swapping faces.

'Oh.'

The general perception of Cassian usually resulted in fear. However, standing up to Leo's expectations, the only thing that surfaced on Miyu's face was a smile.

At this moment, the helpless prey believed that she had finally found her way out!